Predator: A Franchise That (So Far) Hasn’t Lived Up To Its First Movie

gamerant.com:

The '80s were a special time for blockbuster cinema. Over-the-top heroes, memorable one-liners, villains with awesome accents, and jacked-up characters were at the height of action cinema. All of this excitement was complemented by aliens, robots, and monsters at the top of the box office. It is somewhat still that way now, but in a much more subdued way, not leaning into the absurd as much. But one movie that took all of those and cranked the meters to eleven: the 1987 Action/Sci-fi movie, Predator.

Just mentioning the title brings action nostalgia to the brain with amazing titles like Die Hard and First Blood. Predator elicits an expectation and sense of over-the-top action, and it delivers in a way only the 80s could. With Predator, Arnold Schwarzenegger was at the height of his abilities, bringing jacked-up montages, adrenaline-fueled explosions, and some great lines. Along with the help of more 80s action icons like Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura, Carl Weathers, and last but not least, Kevin Peter Hall as the Predator himself, the movie stands the test of time as 80s action at its best.

Predator Is A Smarter Movie Than You Remember

But with iconic cinema comes, well, even more excess in the form of sequels, reboots, and the idea of «bigger is better.» It was only a matter of time before others tried to amp it up even more, to capitalize on the love many have for the original action movie. Three years after the original came the first sequel with Predator 2. For the most part, Predator 2 is a somewhat enjoyable 90s action movie with some memorable moments. It even featured some 90s cinema staples like Danny Glover, Bill Paxton, Gary Busey, and a returning Kevin Peter Hall as the Predator. Compared to the following two